Building a Sprinkler From the Underground Up

Everything You need To Know

Having a green lawn may instill a sense of pride in many homeowners. Unless you want to spend hours of your own time scheduling and maintaining watering cycles by hand, the best option to get that emerald look is via automatic sprinklers. When you come to Southern Irrigation for sprinkler repair, we know it’s important to understand how everything works together before it gets fixed. After all, it takes more than a hose and some water to make sure your lawn looks its best in the Nashville heat!

The Basics

A sprinkler system is nothing without a sprinkler, and there are a variety of types available. From fixed-head pop-up nozzles to specially designed oscillating heads, they distribute water evenly over your lawn. Most of these parts are injection-molded plastic, which has a long life and keeps costs down. While the media may show us factories filled with robots making such devices, in reality, each piece is usually fit together by hand, and quality inspected as it proceeds through the assembly.

Tubing

Water needs some way to get to the sprinkler heads, and the most unobtrusive method is through underground pipes or hoses. These carry city water to each nozzle and are traditionally made of PVC. Newer installations are moving towards tubing that is more hose-like that lasts just as long but is more flexible and easier to install. This helps with areas that suffer from ground frost through the winter months and helps prevent sprinkler repair in the spring by flexing as the ground freezes.

Pump Controller

The brains of the outfit, pump controllers work with backflow systems to turn your sprinklers on or off at specified times. More advanced designs have features that monitor ambient temperature and humidity to best determine when to engage the system. These can be simple timers or more complex electronic devices that split your lawn into specific zones for watering.

Knowing how your sprinkler system is built helps you understand what needs to be fixed or replaced. Identifying the problem will help a qualified sprinkler repair technician to tackle the job quickly, and let you get back to enjoying the kind of lawn that really turns your neighbors’ heads! Call Southern Irrigation today.